Connecticut agent reveals how to continue succeeding in a changing market

Profile: Karen Scott
KMS Partners
Coldwell Banker Riverside Shavell
No. of team members: 6
Area served: Wilton, Westport, Weston, Fairfield, Southport, Norwalk and Easton, Connecticut
Years in real estate: 8

When did you first join the team and why?
First let me say that although we qualify as a team and everyone on the outside insists on calling us a team, we are actually a partnership. We run it just like a law firm with partners and associates. We are a boutique within a grand agency so we have very deep cutting-edge resources within Coldwell Banker and then and we operate separately as KMS Partners.

What are the biggest benefits to having a team?
We can give incredible service to our clients and still have lives. As partners we are each invested in all of our listings. So if there is an emergency for one of us we can call another partner who can jump in and the client still gets seamless service—yet we are able to take care of our lives as well knowing that one of the other partners is taking care of the client.

How do you differentiate your team from others in the market?
KMS Partners was really one of the first of its kind in this market. We are, if not the original, then one of the originals. First and foremost we are a partnership so that we are all fair and can take over for one another. We have branded ourselves as a “partnership.”
Besides giving exceptional service we have an incredible referral business. We have banded together with other top selling agents in Connecticut, New Jersey and New York and we call ourselves “The Elite Core.”

We meet frequently with the other members of The Elite Core and know them well so that when we do make a referral, we actually know the person we are sending our client to; we know he or she will get the same high level of service from the person we have referred them to.

We also network with a group of agents in California, “The California Connection.” A lot of our clients were moving in and out of the community so we found this was the best way to service them and it has worked not only to keep our clients happy, but to bring in a great deal of business as our networks of agents also refer their clients to us.

Another key to our business is that we are the preferred relocation agents to the area’s biggest corporations of which there are many. We are also very involved in the communities we sell in. Each of the partners seems to have different interests so we span the horizon in Fairfield County. For my part, because I am a mother with young children, I take time with my family to participate in my children’s activities. I am also involved with a number of breast cancer foundations.

Please give us an in-depth look at the partnership’s approach to servicing clients.
We have huge sales volume and I know that sometimes people feel that they get lost working with a team or a partnership. So to give our clients the best possible service for every listing we take, we have a “key contact.” This way the client gets personalized service from the lead partner handling that particular listing, but can also get a hold of any of the other partners if the lead is not available. So they get the best of all worlds.

We pride ourselves on personal service and we also pride ourselves on the fact that many of our clients become our friends. Actually I joined the partnership when I moved to Fairfield County because one of the partners was the woman who sold me our house and the service she gave me was so phenomenal I wanted to work with her. We also try to leave our egos at the door. With us, it is all about servicing our clients, not thinking about whether we are wonderful or great but instead, how great the listing is and we try to convey this to our clients in each step of the transaction. We also talk every day to one another so that we are all on the same page and know what is going on with each buyer and seller so that we can give seamless service.

What is the most creative thing you have ever done to sell a house?
We are recognized for our marketing, which is very business-like, and we always try to be creative, as well as cutting edge. That said, I do recall something very special that we did in marketing a home. A waterfront listing, for $7.5 million, had incredible views, waterfront presence, etc. So instead of initially conducting an open house, we conducted boat tours around the property and the adjacent harbor. It was a huge success in both marketing the property and creating a “talk of the town.”

Lesley Geary

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